Kathy's Letter

Annotation

Little Kathy Hoffman, 6 years old as she told the listener, offered a pro-Nixon narration in the track "Kathy's Letter" (Dial # 4091). She started out by welcoming Nixon into his new job as President, noting the trouble in the world and that they could get "blowed-up" at any time. Later on she dealt with the issues of protesters and anarchy, and even though she "don't know what that means" and "can't even spell it", she does know that it is causing a lot of trouble. She then implied that the protesters needed a spanking. In the final section, Little Kathy specifically mentioned the Vietnam War, noting the sadness of many mums and dad. She signed off with a "god bless you Mr. Nixon". Written and produced by Dan Hoffman - presumably the father?

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Dear Mr. Nixon, I felt that I just had to say something even though I'm only 6 years old / I can't vote or maybe not even think too good / But I have feelings and mum and dad have taught me a lot of good things about America / You are our new leader at a time when there is a lot of trouble in this big old world and sometimes it looks like we are all going to get blowed-up... / I don't know why so many older kids are protesting these days, I'm not so sure what protesting means... / Maybe they haven't been taught right?... / I know there a lot of things wrong in our country today Mr. Nixon, but there's also a lot of things right too... / What we need to do Mr. Nixon is to get with it and work... / I heard someone talking the other day about anarchy / I don't know what that means, I can't even spell it / But mum and dad say it's bad and it's a time when folks disobey their leader and do what they please / I took part in anarchy in our house once when none of us went to bed on time and boy did we get a spanking / It did hurt a bit but it sure did make us feel bad / Even though there are a lot of sad mums and dads because of that war in Vietnam I somehow feel that that may get over with too / I know that everybody in our house is with you and every night I pray for you so that things will get better... / God bless you Mr. Nixon, Kathy

Notes

Dial 45-4091 (DL-16529 SP), white promotional "Plug Side" label marked Vocal, "Dist. by Atlantic Recording Corp., 1841 Broadway, N.Y., N.Y."; "Kathy's Letter" (Dan Hoffman - Gary Edwards), Pub. Tree, BMI, time 4:36; arranged by Jay Collins, produced by Dan Hoffman. [From the record sleeve and labels]

Themes

Patriotic · Child

In collections

Children on Record · US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs [War Years]